


cover stories go both ways

by slybrunette



Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-18
Updated: 2010-07-18
Packaged: 2017-10-15 05:40:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/157583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slybrunette/pseuds/slybrunette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>pre-series. they meet, first, in warsaw. but this is a lie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cover stories go both ways

They meet, first, in Warsaw.

They meet, a kiss on the cheek and _cześć_ falls from someone’s lips, by way of greeting.

 

-

 

In truth, they met on a flight somewhere over the Atlantic, and Carina had said “nice to meet you” in the same breath as she slipped her hand over Sarah’s thigh and Sarah hadn’t understood _why_ until she figured out their covers.

But Sarah and Carina hadn’t been their cover names on that plane or in Poland, so for all intents and purposes Julia and Karolina meet in Warsaw with a kiss on the cheek and an effortlessly recited greeting, exactly a week after they stepped off of that plane.

 

 

-

 

Within a week, they are labeled as lovers.

Within three, their target will be dead, they will be on a plane back to D.C., and things like labels will be neither here nor there.

 

 

-

 

 

Cover relationships require upkeep and so they learn each other’s bodies, familiarize themselves with hands looped through arms and hot breath against bare necks, whispered words. Their legs always touch under the table, resting side by side and warm.

Initially it leaves every nerve ending in her body on fire, for the first few days. The adjustment period before it’s all routine to her, like always.

This is the first time it cycles back around.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Carina asks, back to English, like their companions.

Their target is Russian; still others around her are French. It is a mish-mash of languages but everyone that matters in this scenario speaks fluent English and so do they.

She runs a hand along Sarah’s arm and ice blue eyes insinuate the rest of what she’s not saying.

Sarah shivers.

 

 

-

 

 

“It’s got to look natural.”

Sarah stops applying lipstick in the mirror, lower lip a faint pink color, top bare.

Carina doesn’t mean the lipstick.

When Sarah turns around to face the other woman, she ends up pinned to the vanity by the other woman’s hips.

“And what might you be suggesting?”

“I think you know.”

Sarah is the first one to lean in, seeking control any way she can.

 

 

-

 

Carina’s fingers flit over her hip, over the blue silk that skims her body, and Sarah only leans into her touch for a moment before she removes Carina’s hand, twines it with her own and pulls her along.

“Elena’s here.” Heels clack on the wooden floor. “And she’s brought a friend.”

“Is this a friend we’re interested in?”

“Isn’t everyone?”

Carina smiles wickedly. “I could think of a few people I’d find more interesting.”

If they weren’t working, if they were just normal people at an art opening, she would bother to snap her head around, to ask what that’s supposed to mean. She would bother to focus on the innuendos Carina throws her way like breathing.

Instead, she says, “Get your head in the game, Karolina,” and hopes the name shocks her into her role.

 

-

 

 

It does.

Very temporarily.

Then, in the bathroom, standing over the sink, she watches Carina’s lips on her neck, the way her hand snakes around to her stomach, pushing lower.

“Come on,” Carina breathes, and Sarah leans her head back and to the side, never stops watching their joint reflection in the mirror. “What’s that saying? The ends justify the means.”

Sarah’s breath catches, the skirt of her dress hiked up around her hips, and Carina’s fingers dance along her underwear. Sarah hands curl around porcelain and her eyes drift closed.

 

 

-

 

They are to take their target out that evening and between the two of them they have discovered every place you could possibly conceal a gun, a knife, under the tight dresses they wear. There are knives in heels and guns in holsters, strapped to their thighs. Every thing is deliberate, every thing is a potential weapon if need be.

Their clothes sit on hangers, weapons lined up on the table, and when Carina says “one for the road?” it’s Sarah who pushes her down to the bed.

It’s Sarah who regains the upper hand and slips two fingers inside of her, and then a third.

By the end, it’s still Carina with her head between Sarah’s legs, knees drawn up and fists balled into the bed sheets.

“It’s been nice working with you,” Carina says, after, fresh out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her body and that’s the last thing they say to each other before they leave the hotel and slip into character.

It’s the last thing they say as themselves until they’re back on the plane.

 

 

-

 

 

Back in D.C., they get new assignments. They’ve decided to keep Sarah local, for the time being; Carina is a different story.

“If you’re ever in Australia,” Carina offers, her phone number on a slip of paper, and when their fingers touch on the exchange Sarah knows the spark wasn’t just situational.

It wasn’t just part of the job.

“Thanks,” Sarah replies, even if she knows that she won’t be.

They won’t see each other again for almost a year.


End file.
